


If I Could Move Time

by Pareidolia



Category: Cantarella
Genre: Reincarnation, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-21
Updated: 2008-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-25 01:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1625033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pareidolia/pseuds/Pareidolia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfonso d'Aragon makes a promise to his sister.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Could Move Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Oyce

 

 

I.

Alfonso remembers.

He remembers a summer day, bright and warm, when Sancia still loved, still dreamed of being loved and she glowed, happy and radiant and _brilliant_ enough to white his vision and burn herself into his eyes and heart forever.

But this world, this time, is too dark, an unbreakable cage from which they cannot escape and they are born into chains, the length shortening with each passing year. Sancia realized it too late and he, too, was too late to protect her. He was too young, too naive, too _weak_.

But he's learned. He's learned how to become a real man, the kind Sancia always says she wants. He isn't especially handsome and he's still physically weak, but he is smart and determined and he will, he _will_ , seize his destiny, _their_ destiny with his own two hands.

Sancia is still bright and beautiful, vivacious and playful but the heart that shone so blindingly in her eyes is hidden, a pearl waiting in an oyster lost at sea. He hasn't seen it in years but he knows it is there and he will keep looking until he can find it, reveal it, treasure and protect it with his life. 

He will keep trying.

\--

They are only two years apart but Sancia sees only one thing: the foolish younger brother who was injured trying to protect her and _still_ idiotically throws himself in harm's way.

She remembers how it felt when he was bedridden after they encountered that minstrel (she doesn't remember his name, she _doesn't_ ) and slaps Alfonso each and every time she sees his shadow lurking out the corner of her eye.

She doesn't need _his_ protection; she can find her own just fine.

\--

And so he is always kept at arm's length. 

If he were a lesser man, he may have lost hope. But he is not and he will make his sister realize the extent of his devotion and make her happy again.

He won't give up until he dies.

II.

Alfonso meets a man in Perugia. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is a charming, witty man, a spot of liveliness in the drudgery of business here. He is a sharp man too -- the better part of everything he says leaves Enrique scratching his head -- but Chichi likes him and so Alfonso likes him too and they talk into the late hours of the night.

They discuss everything, from art to politics, education to religion, birth to death and come morning, one thing resonates with Alfonso.

"At death," Mirandola says, "the soul passes out of the body and into the next." He passes his finger over the candle and casts an odd shadow resembling an acorn on the wall. Chichi is suddenly interested and Alfonso scoops him up before he can bite Mirandola's hand. "A never-ending cycle."

Alfonso turns the idea over in his head and manages to put off its elaboration until the journey home. His mind is filled with possibility and hope.

III.

Sancia is in the garden with Lucrezia when Alfonso returns home and he seems especially lively, seeking them out immediately. He rests a hand on Lucrezia's shoulder and Chichi climbs down her arm to her lap and Sancia rises. She'll let them be.

She feels his eye on her when she leaves.

\--

She indulges a soldier that evening, allowing him a few kisses. She heard he was next in line for a promotion and it wouldn't be bad to have someone on her side in the prison. The small shape scurrying up the tree behind her distracts her and by the time she realizes, the soldier has backed away in respect.

Alfonso smiles, sends the soldier away with a wave of the hand and Sancia flushes with irritation. How dare he!

She raises a hand to slap him but he catches it and it is then she notices the strange look in his eye. "One after the other," he says with a smile. "Like always, Sister."

She yanks her hand away and before she can kick him, he has her pinned against the trunk. That stupid squirrel rustles the leaves above her head.

"Did you know, Sister? The soul is eternal and even after death, will live on in another body."

"Idiot!" she cries and his grip only tightens. His gaze is intense and she denies the flip in her stomach. 

"It makes me wonder: how long has your soul been rejecting mine?" His lips press against her ear and any closer, she will _bite_ him. "But I wanted to make you a promise."

"We will be together," he murmurs, and the tone of his voice is something she's never heard. "Be it this life, or the next, or the next. You will realize what it is I'm offering you. And this time, you won't have to be afraid and you'll accept and we'll be happy, safe, _free_ in our own world."

His fingers curl into her wrists, and she stares at him speechlessly when their eyes meet and spark.

The next moment and a few painful seconds later, he's on the ground and she's stalking away, her cry of rage ringing in his ears.

He smiles while he rises and dusts himself off, aching all over.

This life or the next.

\--

Sancia pretends it never happened but maybe, sometimes, her eyes fall on him more than they should. Idiot.

She does not dream at night, or imagine a place where it is possible to be loved and be more than a pawn. Where it is possible to have a love that does not need to be broken or looked down upon, where politics and birth do not determine their fate, where it is possible to be happy and free.

\--

But Alfonso does.

IV.

They are born and reborn, but centuries later, it is the right place, the right time and finally, _finally_ , the sister does not push away her brother and they are happy. They are free. 

 


End file.
